Open AccessUse of ultrasound to diagnose pneumothorax after video assisted thoracic surgery: Do we need to acquire a new skill?
Author(s) -
Surbhi D Mundada,
Kundan S Gosavi,
Bharti Kondvilkar
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
saudi journal of anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.416
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1658-354X
pISSN - 0975-3125
DOI - 10.4103/1658-354x.140897
Subject(s) - medicine , pneumothorax , modalities , empyema , cardiothoracic surgery , gold standard (test) , surgery , complication , general surgery , radiology , social science , sociology
Diagnosis of a pneumothorax in the immediate post-operative area can be difficult. Traditional gold-standard modalities may not be available or feasible to institute. Ultrasound (US) guidance allows the anesthesia provider a method of quickly detecting this potentially life-threatening complication especially when it's least expected. We encountered such a case when a 40 years male patient posted for video assisted thoracic surgery for drainage of empyema on left side of chest developed pneumothorax on right side post-operatively. Timely diagnosis with the help of US saved time and his life. We thus want to emphasize the importance of this simple but useful skill to the anesthesiologist.